October 8, 2012

"Café," here at the Althouse blog, signifies an open thread in the comments. Write about what you like. And if you happen to have any shopping you need to do, entering Amazon through this link will — at no extra cost to you — send me: 1. some money, and 2. the message that you appreciate what this blog gives to you. (That link is always at the top of the page, under the blog's title: click "Shop Amazon.")

In my misspent youth I was a deckhand on a salmon seiner in Kodiak. The skipper's son, 24 years old, had his own seine boat. When the summer salmon season ended in September he would go down to his berry ranch in New Zealand. That guy had nothing but long summer days.

I think Mitt Romney should tell the Story of the Little Red Hen to talk about the 99%, or the 47% or whatever it is who don't want to work but do want to enjoy the fruits of capitalism. There's even a version of it on PBS, which liberals love to watch. http://video.nhptv.org/video/2238435385/

Romney needs a mythological story that everyone can relate to. It could be his campaign emblem. Is this too late?

Well, the snakes must have figured out how to get into the house, probably following the mice that want to move in for the winter. Fortunately we have an eager and efficient mouser cat.

I just got up to make a sandwich and there in the middle of the living room floor a 14 inch long snake. Checking to make sure it is just a garden snake and not a baby rattler, I scooped him up in a towel and put him outside in the bushes. Good thing I'm not afraid of snakes, but I'm glad I saw in in the day and didn't find it with my feet in the middle of the night.

I used to go around the little town I lived in photographing what people had in their yards or windows. One had a giant stuffed dog looking out the window; one had a mirror garden ball pushed way back under bushes and lying on the ground; one had carved birds on her picket fence posts; one had a star magnolia; one had an osage orange; one had an abandoned martin house; one had eight-petalled day lilies; one had a fenceline full of datura. Here you don't get that variety - at least not in front yards. But one person has built a little imitation prairie garden which the town has told her to take down and in the midst of the flowers is sign reciting her trials.

I think Romney's comments on the morality of enslaving future generations to our spending is a really important discussion to have.

How many times have I heard the liberal argument "We are a rich country, we can spend money on X, Y, and Z." And I do have to wonder what all that spending has done. It's forced spending. One way or another, that spending goes to the purchase of some service or good. With the current funding, primarily by the middle class (all that social security money that in 2010 nearly equaled income taxes, and it's all gone), is a benefit to the ownership class. And as Romney said, the rich are going to do fine with or without a crappy economy.

What I want to know is how leftists can be so arrogant as to assume THEIR moral position is so correct that it is OK to borrow the compassion of future generations in the form of taxing their future productivity. What if Garage, Obama, and all the leftists are wrong? How embittered are future generations going to be to this one?

I simply do not understand the rationale. And it's not merely the money. Like it or not, the south of the border Demographic we are importing, while good for ownership class concerns, and while I am the first to acknowledge these 1850s peasants have a better work ethic than almost anyone I know, the fact is the progeny of this demographic is turning out to have some very undesirable characteristics, including declining income, huge percent of out of wedlock births, high gang affiliation, incredibly low college matriculation rates, etc. So there is a moral argument here. What is it? It's OK for our kids to suffer the fallout?

And then there is the kind of brainless non-think that Governor brown is doing here in CA, demanding 30% of energy sources from renewable sources, but ironically excluding hydro and nuclear. Nuclear is renewable, right, it can bread more fissile materials. The cost of this insanity is $60B in a state burdened with a massive unemployment rate, insufficient funds, and an exodus of businesses and wealthy taxpayers. The kicker is that the purported goal of lowering C02 is a load of crap. CA uses C02 friendly natural gas, which produces far more energy than coal per C02 molecule emitted. Replacing any of this with "Green" energy has an undetectable amount of reduction of carbon. So the whole point is "We'll fall on our sword, so now you will too." My god, this is so damn stupid. And that's assuming you believe the worst scenarios of AGW. It won't help at all.

Our kids are going to have to pay for OUR vision of morality. It's based on this ridiculous idea that we are a wealthy country, and can afford to make meaningless gestures.

Somehow, I doubt our partners in China and India, who are bringing their billions out of poverty with cheap energy, are going to be persuaded.

This goes for nearly every major program as well. They never go away, become bigger and bigger, and are used as cynical political tools, like Obama recently announcing he would not enforce the law with deportations.

The arrogation of morality by the government has so changed the character of this country, there are now lunch monitors in some schools evaluating the bag lunches provided by their parents. And I read recently the DOE (I think) is recruiting students to find energy abuse in their schools, who in the meantime are putting up wasteful solar cells on their roofs at tremendous cost.

People, what is going on? I suspect the next generation is going to be one of the most cynical group of people as they hit their thirties and forties. Oh, maybe we simply ought to legalize pot, and they can take these passive views our president does.

We haven't witnessed her do this, but when she brings a snake to the deck or door to show off, it is missing the head. I doubt she is eating it. But definitely decapitated.

Our cat spends all day outside and comes in for her "treat" about 4pm, which is a piece of chicken or a tbsp of wet cat food, at which point she is now INSIDE kitty for the rest of the night. She falls for it every time :-)

DBQ, a snake?! Had a fair amount of lizards and some bats where I used to live, but never a snake.

The new place--the country house in the middle of the suburbs (which is a perfect description if you see it)--has rats. I saw poops a few weeks ago, then saw a little body jumping out of our pantry in the kitchen. I tried to react smoothly so my wife wouldn't notice, but she noticed my reaction. I told her I was likely a mouse. Seemed bigger, but I was hoping.

Bought a rat trap. The electrocuting kind. Didn't catch anything for a week. Thought about a getting a cat. Heard an owl outside, wondered if I could entice it in.

My wife woke me up at 2am. Heard "a door slam". Grabbed my red maglite. Jumped up and out. Didn't see anything. Nothing disturbed. Looked in the kitchen. A box of macaroni and cheese had fallen out of the pantry from a high shelf. Spaghetti was torn up, a spaghetti nest was being made. The next night, around midnight. Woken up again. This time a jar of jam.

I took baiting the trap more seriously.

My wife suggested a bit of chicken casserole leftovers.

Got up in the middle of the night, checked the kitchen. Red light was flashing in the pantry. Opened the door, there was a tail and hind leg sticking out of the trap. Caught it.

The next night caught a second one, half the size of the first.

None since.

That being said, I've almost convinced myself it wouldn't be a bad thing to have a snake in the house.

"The Packers are in trouble. Big trouble. I don't remember them ever playing this bad when Favre was there."

It sure seems that way. Head to head match ups with Vikings and Bears can help though, so don't despair. It isn't over yet.

Speaking of which, my S.F. Giants are having the anti-2010 playoff season this year: no magic, no wins. A day off may help; so too may the fact of playing on the road. If I remember correctly, no offense in NL scored more than they did on the road. Regardless, quite a hole to dig out of.

As for my 'Niners, looking good. Showdown with the NY Giants next week at the 'Stick - hope my boys have a great day, but most especially Kyle Williams and Alex Smith.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...If you're going to ask us to put money in your pocket via Amazon click-through, is it too much to ask that you occasionally engage some of the comment-ers who take you on for your various positions?

I've read many devastating critiques that you simply ignore, because, I guess, you can.

Write about what you like? Okay.This time of year I'm often approached by people who are thinking about buying a telescope as a Christmas present. In the past I've had trouble recommending one telescope that would suit a wide range of people. But now I've found one that is easy to recommend: The 80 mm refractor made by Orion ($160): 80 mm Refractor It's a nice, compact telescope that works well for night time use and includes an image corrector to make it easy to use in the daytime to look at birds. You need to supply a decent camera tripod for it.

@ The FarmerYes. People know I'm one of those geek astronomer types. So, people where I work, friends, family members, friends-of-friends, people at public gatherings of astro events - I usually get asked at least a few times as Christmas approaches.

Besides, I hate to see people wasting their money buying those (usually) crappy department store telescopes.

Stacey Dash is a brave young woman. I thought she was great in "Clueless" and she obviously has a lot of guts.

Actress Stacey Dash, who has starred in everything from the 90′s hit Clueless to CSI, prompted a firestorm on Twitter after publicly endorsing Republican nominee Mitt Romney, and then standing by her opinion.

“Vote for Romney. The only choice for your future. @mittromney @teamromney #mittromney #VOTE #voteromney,” Dash wrote on her official Twitter page, accompanied by a photo of herself with an American flag.

Well, we know who the racists are, even if Rush Limbaugh "loses" our hostess.

Slightly off-topic (if there is a clear topic), I wonder if the reactions and comments of these Obama supporters make Althouse less inclined to support Obama. After all, just look at how many ugly racial stereotypes and insults they are employing.

For DBQ and anybody else interested in the snakes in the house thread:

Twenty-odd years ago, we rented a townhouse that backed up against a forest preserve. Our worthy and honorable landlord (who eventually went to prison for playing shell games with his property improvement loans) hadn't installed gutters and dryer vent covers. The area under our patio was washed out, and garter snakes used to den there for the winter. We found a lost garter snake in the basement when we moved in, and later a squirrel unwisely pried open the homemade dryer vent cover we put on. Sic transit squirrel, and wasn't removing the remains from the dryer vent a job!

The neighbor's cat used to run loose in the woods and bag small birds and other animals. The biggest snake we saw the cat tackle was 14 inches.

You don't want snakes moving into the house. If they like the place, and breed there, they'll stink it up something fierce (see recent article about the family out west that unknowingly bought a house on a garter snake denning site). If you have enough mice to keep a snake happy, you really want a cat or two instead; or better yet, an exterminator who seals the place up properly for you. Mice leave respiratory viruses in their droppings, including the hantavirus that clobbered campers at Yosemite earlier this summer.

For what it's worth, Ann allows people to say things that question her perspectives. She doesn't always answer them, but sometimes I think I see subtle changes in here subsequent posts. Could be my imagination.

Other people would simply delete them. She doesn't, and I think that integrity, as well as the alternate views being aired, is commendable.

"Slightly off-topic (if there is a clear topic), I wonder if the reactions and comments of these Obama supporters make Althouse less inclined to support Obama. After all, just look at how many ugly racial stereotypes and insults they are employing."

I wouldn't bet on it.

Obama voters are extraordinarily, emotionally invested in Obama, for no discernible reason.

The sample is 36 percent Republican, 31 percent Democrat, and 30 percent independent. And while Republican enthusiasm is certainly high this year, there is no precedent in the past 28 years of exit polls of Republicans having a five-point advantage over Democrats.

I had a cat that used to eat the entire mouse, but would leave behind tail and paws. I'd come home in the morning after working the night shift and find them. She had no front claws, terrific mouser though. I haven't had a mouse yet this fall, which is amazing considering where I live, but my daughter who lives the city of Madison had three.

Had a snake inside. My youngest son noticed him winding around. I am not afraid of snakes but I do not believe they can be reasoned with or taught so i took his head off with a shovel.Our little secret. My wife will never know.

That being said, I've almost convinced myself it wouldn't be a bad thing to have a snake in the house.

Snakes aren't all that bad, except for the smell issue if they decide to breed. Plus, as pointed out, the snake in the house means mice in the house, too We have put out bait and traps and with the cat, we 'thought' we had the mouse issue taken care of. I guess not.

DBQ - you may want to keep an eye on your cat at night. She may be staking out the entry point.

We have a raised floor in a portion of the great room which is built on a concrete slab. The cat is often underneath this area. Most likely the problem spot.

So. Under the house and under the raised platform goes The Dumbplumber (my sweet hubby) to see if there are any entry points and seal up the foundation from the inside. Fortunately, he thought ahead and put a deep layer of sand under the wooden house raised flooring part and electric lighting under the whole thing...raised floor over the concrete included. Has a little wheeled dolly, like auto mechanics use, on the concrete slab, so he can scoot around pretty easily.

Between the cat, feral cats, foxes I was thinking that most little vermin were under control. Ah well.

I agree....spiders are the worst. Funny. I can pick up a snake or lizard but freak out at the sight of a wolf spider.

k said...To Farmer - I bought a cheapo iPod dock, and other than I hate the angle of the clock, it's nice. But nothing like a Bose.

Thanks for the effort. It's down to the Fluance FiSDK500, the Altec Lansing iMT810 or the Audyssey. They all get great reviews at CNET. The Fluance is ugly as hell. The Altec Lansing seems more for people who give a shit about boomy bass (I do not). The Audyssey has a weird shape (looks like a wireless router) but it doesn't bother me. I'll probably go with the Audyssey. In any case, I'll use the Althouse portal.

And to all: Can you teach a (quite stupid Siamese tabby mix) cat to use a pet door? Am concerned that she won't know how to get in for winter.

Viburnum takes the sun’s wayfaring wayIn earnest – honest in fen, field or farm,Burgeoning arrow-true or queered to strayUnencumbered by season, soil or worm.Regaled as moments turn with burning suns –Now hot and high in June, now low and coldUntil November’s trimming orbit’s onceMet everywhere and everywhere exiled.Viscum, another such broadcast outcast,Interprets seasons – intertwines them with myth:Sticking to sleep’s twiggy limbs, mistletoe’s curledConfusions kissing both the cursed and blessedAs Joseph cursed his journey, blessed his wealthAnd, meeting pharaoh, dreamed to save the world.